Voters in Crocker, those east of St. Robert will vote at different places

By: Darrell Todd Maurina

Posted: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 8:58 pm

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (March 31, 2010) — When voters go to the polls next week Tuesday, April 6, those who vote in Crocker and the areas east of St. Robert known as the Hooker Precinct will have some differences.

One change occurs each year during school board and city council elections. The voters of the Hooker Precinct, which covers the rural areas east of the city of St. Robert out to Devil’s Elbow and usually cast ballots at the Sunset Manor retirement home, won’t have anything on their ballot except Waynesville R-VI School Board candidates and a proposed Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District tax increase to keep the district’s full-time firefighters rather than reverting to a mostly volunteer department, so they vote together with St. Robert voters in the St. Robert Community Center on Old Route 66.

“That’s the one election we don’t have it open,” said County Clerk Diana Linnenbringer.

However, Crocker voters have a permanent change beginning with this election. For many years, Crocker residents have voted in city hall; they’ll now vote a few blocks away at the Pulaski County Health Department.

That change was initiated by Crocker, not by the county, but Linnenbringer said she expects the change will benefit all involved.

“The mayor of Crocker had requested that I look for another place due to the fact that she campaigned on finding ways to save money for the city, and since the employees were off on election days due to the voting place being within the city hall, she asked that I move it,” Linnenbringer said. “I could understand that, so I looked at a number of places and we found that the health department had ample parking, was larger, and will be a benefit to voting.”

Polling places Tuesday will be Waynesville Middle School, St. Robert Community Center, the Crocker Health Department, Swedeborg School, Dixon Senior Center, Richland City Hall, Laquey School, and for the Big Piney area southeast of Fort Leonard Wood, Palace Church on Highway AW south of the gate.

In addition to school board and city council elections, voters in Dixon will consider a tax increase to reopen their library, voters in the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District will consider a tax increase to retain their full-time firefighters, and voters in the Swedeborg R-III School District will consider a tax increase to keep their school district from closing.

The Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District stretches from Buckhorn all the way to Devil’s Elbow, but residents of the city of Waynesville won’t vote since their city has a fire protection contract with the fire district. St. Robert residents have their own city-run fire department as part of city government.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. at each polling place by state law. If there are many last minute-voters, those who enter the polling place and are waiting in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, but those coming after 7 p.m. won’t be given a ballot.

Today was the last day to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to voters, but it’s not too late for those who can’t be at the polls to come to the county clerk’s office and request an absentee ballot in person. The county clerk’s office will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon and on Monday, the day before the election, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The clerk’s regular hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. apply on Thursday and Friday.